by Amy DuBoff
They closed the remaining distance in a mad dash amid kinetic rounds, with Edwin shielding Karen against his chest.
The group piled into the pod, and Ava hit the door controls. Nick ran to the front of the craft with Samantha. The pod lifted from the ground, and the gravitic drives rocketed it toward space.
Ava collapsed into one of the passenger chairs and removed her helmet. “That was way too close.”
Edwin lowered Karen from his shoulder, and she slumped into a chair across from Ava.
“Thank you for getting me out of there,” she murmured.
“That was so…” Ava shook her head. “Never put us in that position again.”
Karen looked down at her hands. “I was only trying to help.”
“Well, next time leave it to the professionals.” Ava fluffed her red hair with her fingers.
The other woman paused. “Is the chancellor really dead?”
Ava gave a solemn nod. “I suspect the alien is gone rather than dead, its consciousness back to whatever world they come from. That was what had control of the Nezaran government and NTech. Those officials are their own people again.”
Karen nodded.
“Politics you can do. Stick to that,” Ava advised with a slight smile.
“Yeah.” Karen chuckled. “I don’t think I’ll be leaving my office any time soon.”
“Approaching the Raven,” Nick advised from the cockpit.
Ava took a slow breath. “This will be another fun mission brief to write.”
Karen gave a sheepish look to the team. “I don’t suppose I could get a ride home?
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Luke held Ava in a quiet embrace. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked her again.
“Yes, I’m fine.” She smiled at him. “I feel better than I have all week.”
He released a long breath. “Okay.”
Her accounts of the events on Nezar had been alarming, to say the least, but he knew he better get used to her harrowing tales of near-death. In all fairness, he’d been shot at multiple times that week, too. The era of being a lab jockey is officially over.
Luke released Ava from the hug and looked her over again. “I still don’t know what to make of Heizberg, one being controlling that many people.”
Ava leaned against the hallway wall outside Luke’s lab. “It was in her, not just possessing her.” She looked down. “I wish we’d been able to bring her body for you to examine.”
“Part of me is relieved.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t want to do that examination, either.” Ava wiped her hands down her face. “Has Jared been through the extraction yet?”
Luke shook his head. “Dwyer was running one more round of tests before we do. Our time to work with him is up in a couple of hours.”
Ava got a glint in her eyes. “You know that world I told you about, the one Reya showed me?”
“Yeah.”
“What if we could find it?”
Luke frowned. “Somewhere in Gidyon, right?”
“But systems are huge, and we have no idea how many planets there are or how large those planets may be. What if we could locate the exact position of that forest that was sending the telepathic commands?”
“I don’t like where this is going.” Luke crossed his arms. If she knows that exact location, she’ll almost certainly try to go there.
“If we don’t take them out, then what happened to Nezar could happen somewhere else.”
“Yes, if your assumptions are correct, in theory, it would be possible to trace the telepathic signal controlling Jared back to its origin,” Luke yielded.
“Then let’s find it.” Ava grinned.
“You should pull in Widmore and Kurtz,” Luke suggested. “I’m not sure what kind of record we’ll be able to make of the location.”
“Yes, good call. They should probably witness this firsthand if they’re going to authorize a mission later.”
“My thoughts exactly. Not that I think you should be the one to go on said mission.”
She flashed a sweet smile. “I like knowing that you care.”
While walking toward Luke’s lab, Ava sent the two commanding officers a message about what they had planned, and they sent affirmation that they’d come to meet them.
Luke still wasn’t enamored with the idea, but he recognized that if he didn’t help, they’d just find someone else who would. He’d rather be in the loop than not.
Jack and Tess were waiting in the lab when Luke and Ava arrived. Jared was strapped to a mobile medical bed, in a drug-induced half-sleep. Two warriors stood guard over him.
“Uh oh, looks like more testing is afoot.” Tess eyed Luke suspiciously. “What are we doing now?”
“Finding an alien homeworld so we can show them what’s what with the Etheric Federation,” Ava replied on his behalf.
“Ah, I can endorse that plan,” Tess said. She paused. “How exactly do we do that?”
“Jared.” Luke stated.
“Well, yeah, we figured that much,” Jack interjected. “But how?”
“We have a working theory that the TR is a receiver for a remote telepathic signal,” Ava explained. “We want to see if we can trace that signal back to its origin.”
“I had found myself wondering the same thing,” Colonel Kurtz said from behind her. He was standing near the doorway alongside Major Widmore.
“Sirs,” Luke greeted.
“We’re here as observers,” Widmore said. “Please, proceed.”
If only I had a clue about how to do a trace like that. Luke looked to Ava for help.
“We need to isolate the frequency of the telepathic link. It’s energy transfer, just like our remote communications systems. Find the frequency, then tune a comm console to those specifications and see where it leads,” Ava stated.
Jack held up his hands. “I’m going to be honest, that’s really outside my specialization.”
Tess nodded. “Me too.”
Kurtz thought for a moment. “Let me get Denise in here.”
Luke and Ava began prepping the setup while they waited for the security chief to arrive. Since she had been briefed on the situation with the aliens, and had spent time as a communication tech earlier in her career, she was the best choice to bring in on the task.
Once she arrived, the compact room was filled to capacity.
“Quite the party happening in here,” Denise said with a smile as she shimmied into position.
She assisted Luke and Ava with configuring the communications equipment to run a trace on different frequencies. When it was ready, everyone turned to Ava for the next steps.
“All right, I’ll get Nox talking,” she said.
Luke watched as she bent over to look into Jared’s eyes. The captive went rigid under her intense gaze.
“Where are you?” Ava said in the tone Luke had come to associate with a telepathic command.
The communications equipment next to the bed lit up as it processed the signal.
“Definitely getting something here,” Denise said as she looked over the inputs. “We need a little more to get it fully calibrated.”
“I’ve seen the world,” Ava continued in her commanding tone. “Show me where it is.”
She leaned in. “I can feel Nox’s presence trying to run, but it has nowhere to hide inside Jared’s mind. Its only option is to retreat along the path back to its base.” Her eyes narrowed. “Show me!”
Luke watched the struggle on Jared’s face as Nox was seemingly torn between its mission in Jared and returning to the safety of its home.
Denise kept a close eye on the communication console as it continued its search. “Okay, getting telemetry now.”
Luke looked over her shoulder at the readings, though most of the content was meaningless.
“It’s in Gidyon for sure,” Denise reported. “There’s something there. It’s a strong signal. I can’t be sure if it’s a planet or just a space station, but I have clo
se enough coordinates that you should be able to find the exact location with an in-system scan.”
Ava withdrew from Jared’s mind. “Is that everything you need, sir?” she asked, looking to Kurtz.
“It is,” he confirmed.
“Now,” Widmore said. “I suggest we sever that connection for good. We wouldn’t want them hearing all our plans.”
* * *
Karen sat down in the visitor chair under the watchful gaze of President Connors.
“Okay, so that could have gone better,” she stated the obvious.
Connors leaned back in his chair, fingers steepled. “When I agreed to you going to Nezar, I thought it was to help the chancellor, not instigate her death.”
“I know, sir, but she died years ago. This was a necessary tragedy.”
He nodded. “A chance at a new beginning for us, indeed.” He paused. “I think you should participate in discussions with the new heads of state.”
“I had a hand in their previous leader’s death. I’m not sure how well that would go over.”
“That’s not in the official record,” Connors pointed out. “You know what really went on there before. That insight will be valuable when it comes to instituting a structure to keep this from happening again.”
Karen shifted in her chair. “Have any new Nezaran representatives been nominated yet?” she asked.
“No, but I heard it’s in the works. NTech and several other companies are also going through a reorganization now that the alien influence is no longer present.”
“Did they get a final count on the number of people who’d been subverted?”
“Over one hundred, in one capacity or another. They’re rolling out a testing program to test for the TR your brother’s team identified.”
Karen released a sigh of relief. “With that resolved, we can finally move forward.”
“Indeed. Now that circumstances surrounding the Nezaran’s opposition to joining the Federation have come to light, the matter has been reopened.” Connors cracked a smile.
“Finally, a chance for peace.”
“It’s what we’ve all wanted, isn’t it? Even if we went about it in different ways.”
Karen slumped back in her chair. “Being back there, I can’t believe the things I did then.”
Connors smile broadened. “Impressionable youth.”
“And so horribly misguided. There’s such a huge difference between cultural identity and autonomy. They aren’t mutually exclusive.”
“Our little Alaxar Trinary will find our voice, I have no worries,” the president replied. “We will remain Alucia, and hopefully Nezar can reestablish itself in a new image for the future.”
“I would like to be a part of that, sir, if they’ll have me.”
“I’ll make the suggestion as soon as it’s appropriate. You’re one of the few who’ve touched all three worlds in this system in a meaningful way—lived on each, knows the quirks and preferences. That will go a long way toward opening a productive dialogue.”
Karen smiled. “I look forward to being of service.”
Connors nodded. “We have a long road ahead yet, but now we’re on the right path.”
* * *
Ava swiveled back and forth on a stool in Luke’s office. The others had departed for the night, and most of the equipment had been shut down. She looked Luke over in the subtle blue glow cast from a screen.
“What aren’t you saying?” she asked him.
He’d been distracted since her return from Nezar, but he had yet to make a clear indication as to why.
“Dwyer and I spent some time looking into your condition while you were away,” he said at last.
“Right, that.” Since her more controlled transformation on Nezar, she felt a new sense of confidence in the abilities, at least insomuch as she wasn’t going to accidentally kill her loved ones. The agony she’d felt during the recent transformations, though… that was a problem.
“I have good news and bad,” Luke continued.
“You know, me. Always the bad first.”
He nodded. “To put it bluntly, I don’t think we can remove the nanocytes from you.”
Ava’s heart skipped a beat. She’d suspected as much, but part of her had been holding out hope she could be free of the modification entirely. It was a much easier decision to walk away than to decide if she should take advantage of enhancements that were so unpredictable and painful.
“What are my options?” she asked, trying to remain objective.
“Well, though we can’t remove the nanocytes, it might be possible to deactivate them.”
“Would I go back to how I was before, then?”
He drummed his fingers on the countertop. “I’m honestly not sure. I ran a model using the equipment we got from the NTech lab, and the results were inconclusive.”
“So, I’ll be a freak for life.” She sighed.
“But you’ll be my freak.” Luke smiled at her.
“You’ll still love me when I have fangs and claws?”
He chuckled. “Well, I might have to kiss you more carefully under those conditions, but yes,” he stepped forward and stroked the side of her face, “I’m in this with you. It doesn’t change a thing.”
Ava pulled him in for a hug and leaned her head against his chest. “I’m glad I don’t have to go through this alone.”
He held her close. “You’ll never have to again.”
After a minute of quiet reflection, Ava pulled away. “How would this suppressant thing work?”
Luke walked across the lab and grabbed a vial from a rack. “I don’t know how effective this will be. It’s just a first attempt. It’d be administered through a standard shot.”
Ava nodded. “One time, or ongoing?”
“Depends on how you respond,” he replied. “I talked with Doctor Dwyer. You have established you aren’t a danger to yourself or others with this new condition, so it’s entirely up to you if you want to undergo the treatment.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“There is one other option,” Luke continued after a moment.
Ava raised a questioning eyebrow.
“You could get an E.I.”
“I don’t know about that.” Ava crossed her arms. “We decided when I first joined the Force that it would be a little much to have another voice in my head on top of the whole telepathy thing.”
“I don’t doubt it, but an E.I. could help regulate you—probably a whole lot better than the suppressant we came up with.”
Ava nodded. “I guess it’s time to reevaluate.”
“I support whatever you decide.”
She swiveled on her stool. “What would you do in my position?”
“I haven’t felt what you’ve felt. It’s not fair to say.”
“From a medically objective standpoint, then,” she prompted.
He sighed and leaned against the counter, facing her. “If I suddenly had super-strength and speed, I think I’d want to learn to master those abilities, even if it was painful. Those kinds of skills could come in handy. If an E.I. could help you achieve that, it’s worth serious consideration.”
“I was thinking the same thing. I’m glad to know there are options.”
“It’ll be here, whenever you make up your mind.”
She took her free hand and drew him in for a kiss. “Those decisions can wait.”
* * *
Kurtz leaned back in his office chair. Almost back to routine. But first, we have one more matter to attend to.
With a better understanding of the alien threat they faced, it was time for action. FDG command needed little convincing that the situation warranted a suitable resource investment to mitigate the threat efficiently and permanently.
All the same, they were dealing with new aliens. It wasn’t the Federation’s way to go in and wipe out an entire race without a damned good reason. Taking over the bodies of several individuals was an egregious offense, certainly, but it
could also be attributed to cultural differences and a lack of understanding about autonomy.
As much as Kurtz wanted to rush in and destroy the alien’s ability to transmit telepathic signals, he couldn’t let his own personal bias cloud his professional judgment.
A knock sounded on his door.
“Come in, Major,” he greeted Widmore. “Thank you for joining me.”
“Of course, sir. What was it you wanted to discuss?”
Kurtz steepled his fingers. “I was hoping to get your take on these aliens and the new discovery of this world of theirs.”
“Ah.” Widmore lowered himself into one of the visitor chairs. “Whether I think we should go after them?”
Kurtz nodded.
“I do, sir. I wouldn’t normally advocate for intervening in alien matters, but they’ve made their business ours.” He paused. “What did the leadership say?”
“They’ve authorized a recon mission to get a lay of the land. Depending on what we find, we’ll take necessary action.”
“Ava’s team?” Widmore prompted.
“That was the other matter I wanted to discuss. Is she ready to be back out in the field?”
Widmore let out a long breath between his teeth. “She’s not her old self, but she’s been cleared by Medical.”
“What about your gut instinct?”
The major folded his hands in his lap. “Given what we’re up against, I think she’s the only person for the job.”
FINIS
Ava Landyn and her team will be back in Veiled Designs! You can pre-order it at full price, or you can join my email list and I’ll let you know when it publishes so you can pick it up for 99 cents. I appreciate the few extra nickels, especially if you can’t wait and want the book at midnight on January 4th. Thank you for reading Endless Advance. I know you’ll like the next story in the Uprise Saga.
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Author Notes - Amy DuBoff
Written November 30, 2017